SAN
JOSE - Both sides presented their opening arguments to a jury
this morning during the first day of the trial of Dr. Raul Ixtlahuac -
Gilroy's Kaiser Permanente physician charged with allegedly sexually
assaulting
six patients during vaginal examinations.

If
convicted Ixtlahuac (IXHT-la-wahk), 40, could face up to eight
years in jail for four counts of alleged felony penetration with a
foreign
object and two counts of alleged sexual battery. He has plead not
guilty
to all charges.

�This
case will boil down to one thing,� Deputy District Attorney
Charles Gillingham said this morning during his opening arguments at
the
Hall of Justice in San Jose, �a violation of trust.�

Throughout
the trial, four South County women between the ages of
25 and 40 will testify that Ixtlahuac performed sexual intercourse on
them
during routine examinations at the Kaiser facility at 7520 Arroyo
Circle,
Gillingham said. Two other women will testify that he used his fingers
to stimulate their vagina while their legs were in stirrups and a sheet
was draped between them and the doctor.

�Dr.
Ixtlahuac has never sexually abused any patient,� said Doron
Weinberg, Ixtlahuac�s attorney. �He worked at the Kaiser facility in
Gilroy
for 12 years, administering thousands of gynecological examinations to
hundreds of women, and until Sept. 24, 2000, the only complaint against
him is that he was sometimes late for appointments - this is because he
cared so much about his patients he spent the necessary time with
them.�

Ixtlahuac
was arrested in May 2001 for the alleged assaults that
the victims claim took place between Sept. 22, 2000, and May 2001. He
has
since been free on a $250,000 bond and placed on unpaid administrative
leave from Kaiser.

His
medical license also has been suspended pending the outcome of
the trial.

This
morning Ixtlahuac, dressed in a suit and tie, showed little
emotion when he appeared in Superior Court Judge James Emerson�s
courtroom
before a jury of seven women and eight men from throughout the county.
Ixtlahuac�s wife sat behind him during the opening arguments, and they
conversed during recesses.

Each
defendant in the case also has filed a civil lawsuit against
Ixtlahuac and several have done the same against Kaiser. Civil matters
will be taken up when the criminal case concludes.

There
is no strength in (the alleged victims�) numbers,� Weinberg
said. Each brings their own agenda and flawed accusations.�

The
doctor lives in Salinas and received his medical degree from
the University of Washington.